Loading apparatus



Feb. 24, 1953 E. F. MEITZ 2,629,506

LOADING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 5, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR. [fizz/M Ade/72 Feb. 24, 1953 E. F. MElTZ LOADING APPARATUS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Oct. 5, 1949 INVEN TOR.

a [mum Me/iz .movement along boom l4 equipped with rollers 16 which rest upon the ;upper face of the lower flange of the boom and Patented F eB. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,629,505 LOAD G PARATUS; EPW r M qmi?! i Ann c e Oetuber 5, 1949; er al, 2 1 .92.65

This invention relates to a loading apparatus and more particularly to a device tor lifti'ng and inverting rubbish containers for the purp Of discharging the contents thereof into the dump body of a vehicle.

It is an object of this invention to produce a loading apparatus for containers which is constructed simply and which enables rubbish containers positioned along opposite sides of an alleyway to be quickly and with a minimum or manual effort picked up and unloaded into the dump body of a vehicledriven down the center of the alley.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevationof a vehicle equipped with the apparatus of this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken on lines 2-4 in Figure 1 and showing the locking arrangement on the roller carriage.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the lifting clamp.

Figure l is a sectional view taken along the lines l4 in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view talgen along the lines 575m Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a sectional view on lines jig-5 of *Figure 3 showing the cable locking jaws the ,closed position.

Figure 7 is a View sirnilarto Figure 6 showing the jaws in the open position.

.end thereof and a dump body ll at the rear mounted on a chassis l2. An upright column I3 is mounted at the rear end of dulnp body I. On the upper end of column [3 there is secured a boom o um .bei rete e ,sll pet on y 11 sometb om lii armns d tq' wi in a horizontal plane. @Boom l4 is pre ferablyof -I-beam formation and is arranged to extend rearwardly to a o t abov ithe ee fle de eum body H.

A Ufih p car iaeeli is moun ed fo r ll n Carriage i5 is with a pulley H at the lower end thereof which serves as a guide for ,aliiting cable iii. A second 13. Cable I8 extends forwardly from 5 Claims; (01. 214- 2 is rese ted Q thes s "2. be o the lqwer n o column i3! 'Winclf2l is preferably driven' from the vehicle engine by a power take-off (not shown) at the vehicle transmission and can be operated by means of controls either within the am a th W n he esired.

At several points along boom [4, there are aifi'xed pairs of spaced stops 22. A lever 2 1 is pivoted on carriage l5 and biased by a" spring 25 so that its inner-"end normally engages-between a pair o s ep 22 'n h r 'b lo ks c ge i in a dsire ddongitudinal position on'boom It. Lever 24 is arranged to he released from stops 22 by a manual pul-l cord. '26 attached to its outer end which also serves asa means'for pulling the carriage forwardly andrearwardly along boom Hi.

'Thelift ing device, which is 'raise'd and lowered by winch 2i and cable i8, is in the form of an ii i ght" clamp 28'. Clamp 23 comprises a vertical leg .29, which is preferably channel or V-shaped, and has a foot member at'the lower end'thereoi on which the bottom ed eof a cylindrical rubbish container 39 is" adapted to be 'positioned' Foot has m uni dih'reen par of ow l engagement with the peripheraliiange 21' at the lower end of the container. Dowels 3| are provided withpiercing points 32 which pierce the bottomwall of eor'i'tainerslwhieh are not fashioned with a peripheral .flangilt the lower end;

A slide member -33, which is' slidably arranged for vertical movement on leg .29 has adownwardly curved hook portion 3 4 attheupper end thereof. At its lower endslide member 33 is connected, as at 33, with theireeendof cable [8. A' sheave 35 is journaled between the legs of a Ueshaped bracket 35 whichis magne ia the lower end of leg 29. Cable l8 extendsdownwardly along leg .29, around sheave 35. through an opening 31' at portions 45 which, whenthe jaws are in the closed position; are arranged to enclose eableil8. In the closedposition ends of jaws elli and M are spaced apar a 1 t n.e ligh l "1.655 than t diameter of cable B so that a light opening of the jaws issufiicient to r l ase the ime."

Jaw 4| is. bias d t th en p sition by a c s wh hhu eac end easiest th inner faces of the two jaws. A locking bolt 4'! which passes through the jaws and spring 46 has a knob 48 at one end on the inner face of which is formed an inwardly projecting elongated lug or cam 49. Knob 48 is located at the end of locking bolt 41 adjacent jaw 4|. On the outer face of jaw 4| an elongated recess 50 is formed which, when bolt 41 is properly actuated, is arranged to register with cam 49 and permit jaw 4| to spring outwardly to the open position under the influence of spring 46. Bolt 41 is normally biased to rotate to a position where lug 49 is out of registration with recess 50 by a spring 5| which is anchored at one end on jaw 40 as at 52 and at its other end spring 5| is connected to a pin 53 fixed to the end of bolt 47 opposite knob 49. As viewed in Figures 6 and 8, it will be observed that spring 5| tends to rotate bolt 4'! in a clockwise direction. A stop 54 on jaw 4| engages lug 49 to limit the rotation of bolt 41 in thi direction so that the lug is disposed in a generally crosswise position relative to recess 50.

Bolt 41 is arranged to be rotated in the opposite direction so as to bring lug 49 into registration with recess 50 by means of a, lever 55 which bracket 36 and is of sufiicient length to permit lever 55 to be actuated, when clamp 28 is in the raised position above dump body by an operator standing on the ground at the side of the vehicle. A pin 59 projecting outwardly from jaw 4| is arranged to limit the turning of lever 55 and bolt 41 to a position where lug 49 is in registration with recess 50.

In using the apparatus described for lifting rubbish containers and discharging the contents thereof into a dump truck, the vehicle can be driven down the center of the alley and boom M can be swung to either side so as to enable at tachm'ent of clamp 28 to the rubbish containers positioned along the opposite sides of the alley. To lift up a container, boom I4 is swung to one side so that clamp 28 is disposed adjacent the container to be picked up. The container is tilted slightly to permit foot 30 to be positioned beneath the container with dowels 3| engaged behind the peripheral flange 21 at the lower end of the drum. Cable |8 is unwound sufficiently to permit the hooked end 34 of slide 33 to be engaged over the upper end of the container and the cable is then reeled in on winch 2| to lift the container and clamp off the ground. It will be noted that hook 34 is pulled downwardly by cable It! and serves to clamp the container firmly on foot 30. If the container doe not have a bottom peripheral flange for engagement behind dowels 3| then piercing points 32 pierce the bottom wall of the container when hook 34 is clamped over the upper edge of the container wall and pulled downwardly by the lifting cable.

Before the container is elevated the operator inserts cable l8 between jaws and 4| and presses jaw 4| inwardly to the closed position. As soon as lug 49 is disengaged from within slot 50, spring 5| serves to turn lock bolt 41 so that lug 49 is disposed crosswise of slot 59. The cable is thus locked between the jaws and when winch 2| is operated to wind up the cable, clamp 28 and container 39 are elevated in a slightly inclined position. After clamp 28 has been raised by cable |8 sufficiently to permit the lower end of the container to clear the upper edge of the dump body, boom H is swung to a position where the container is disposed above the dump body. The operator then grips handle 51 and pulls downwardly to rotate lever 55 and thereby pivot lug 49 into registration with slot 50. When the lug and the slot are thus aligned, spring 46 pivots jaw 4| outwardly so as to release cable I 8. Since the upward pull of cable It! on clamp 28 i at sheave 35 and offset from the center of gravity of the container, clamp 23 together with the container will fall to an inverted position as soon as cable I8 is released from jaws 40 and 4|, as is shown by broken lines on Figure 1. After one portion of the dump body has been loaded in this manner, carriage I5 is moved along boom M to a position where lever 24 engages another set of stops 22. The dump truck can thereby be loaded progressively from one end to the other, and the lifting clamp enables this operation to be performed quickly and with a minimum of manual effort on the part of the operator.

It will be noted that column I3 and boom I4 are mounted directly on dump body When dump body H is raised at its forward end to dump the load of rubbish, boom 4 and column 13 are elevated with it. Since winch 2| is mounted on chassis l2, the drive for the winch includes a clutch for disengaging the winch so as to permit cable Hi to freely unreel when the dump body is being raised.

Although column l3 and boom l4 are shown as mounted on dump body II, it will be appreciated that the column and boom may be mounted directly on the chassis of the vehicle if desired.

I claim:

1. A device for lifting and inverting an open ended container, such as a rubbish drum, comprising a frame adapted for supporting said container in an upright position, a lifting member extending upwardly at one side of the frame from the lower end thereof, said frame being arranged to swing around said lifting member from an upright position to an inverted position, and mean for releasably inter-engaging the upper end of said frame with a portion of said lifting member adjacent said frame when the frame is in said upright position, said lifting member comprising a cable and said inter-engaging means comprising a clamp member on said frame, said clamp member having a pair of jaws, one of which is movable relative to the other, said jaws in the closed position being arranged to enclose a portion of said cable adjacent said jaws, means biasing said jaws to the open position, and releasable means for locking said jaws in the closed position, whereby when said frame i in the elevated position and said releasable locking means are actuated to release said cable, said frame swings downwardly from said upright to said inverted position and the contents of said container are discharged.

2. A device for lifting and inverting an open ended container, such as a rubbish drum, comprising a frame adapted for supporting said container in an upright position, a lifting member extending upwardly at one side of the frame from the lower end thereof, said frame being arranged to swing around said lifting member from an upright position to an inverted position, and means for releasably inter-engaging the upper end of said frame with a portion of said lifting member adjacent said frame when the frame is in said upright position, said lifting member comprising a. cable and said inter-engaging means comprising a clamp having a pair of jaws, one of which is movable relative to the other, spring means biasing said jaws apart to a, position releasing said cable, one of said jaws having a noncircular opening therein, a shaft passing through said jaws and having a non-circular log at one end which in the closed position of said jaws lies crosswise over said non-circular opening and in the open position i received by said non-circular opening to permit said jaws to shift to said spaced apart position, and means biasing said shaft to a position wherein said lug lies crosswise over said non-circular opening.

3. A device for lifting and inverting an open ended container, such as a rubbish drum, comprising a frame adapted for supporting said container in an upright position, a lifting member extending upwardly at one side of the frame from the lower end thereof and movable vertically of said frame. a vertically slidable clamp on said frame for hooking over the upper edge of the container to hold said container on said frame, said clamp being connected with said lifting member such that when the lifting member is pulled upwardly said clamp is pulled downwardly to engage over the upper edge of the container, said frame being arranged to swing around said lifting member from an upright position to an inverted position, and means for releasably interengaging the upper end of said frame with a portion of said lifting member adjacent said frame when the frame is in said upright position, said inter-engaging mean comprising a clamp memher at the upper end of said frame having separable jaws.

a The combination set forth in claim 3 including manual control means extending from said inter-engaging means for actuating said interengaging means from a point remote from said frame.

5. A device for lifting and inverting an open ended container, such as a rubbish drum, comprising an upright support member having a vertical guideway thereon, a slide member in said guideway having mean thereon for hooking over the upper edge of the container, means at the lower end of said upright member for supporting the lower end of the container, said upright member having a cable guiding means adjacent its upper and lower ends, a cable anchored on said slide member and extending downwardly through said lower guide means and upwardly through said upper guide means, said upper guide means being actuatable to release the cable from therein, and comprising a pair of relatively movable jaw which in the closed position enclose a portion of said cable adjacent said jaws, one of said jaws being pivotable on a vertical axi in a direction away from the other jaw to release said cable from between said jaws.

ERWIN F. MEITZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 705,718 Thiele July 29, 1902 840,489 Healey Jan. 8, 1907 1,145,907 Lovell July 13, 1915 1,233,623 Vogeler et a1. July 17, 1917 1,324,675 Knigge Dec. 9, 1919 1,524,020 Conway Jan. 27, 1925 1,794,714 Kiplinger Mar. 3, 1931 2,369,816 Crawford M Feb. 20, 1945 2,399,360 Lacey Apr. 30, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 433,214 Germany Aug. 31, 1926. 

